CrashingTheGoalie

by Ron Spence

There have been a few ‘nucks and Moose issues that have concerned me.

First of all, Manitoba’s veteran situation – each AHL team is allowed a maximum of 5 veteran players to play in one game.

A veteran – according to the AHL constitution – is a player who has played 260 games in total in the NHL, AHL and European Premier Leagues (Basically, anyone with 3 1/2 years in the AHL and the NHL combined.).

Manitoba already has four veterans – listed on their roster below – and with the addition of Brad Lukowich, that would make five (They can have 7 or 8 if they want, but only 5 can play in one game.).

MANITOBA MOOSE ROSTER

SEPTEMBER 18, 2009

My second concern has been the ‘nucks’ salary cap.

Currently, Vancouver is -$2,760,000.

Sending Lukowich and Lawrence Nycholat to Manitoba would remove a cap hit of $2,067,000 – which is a start.

courtesy of nhlnumbers.com

The key thing – if Lukowich is sent down – he can’t be brought up again. He has to be buried like the Bruins did with Peter Schaefer in Providence. Mike Gillis tried to bring up Matt Pettinger – last season – and Tampa Bay grabbed him and Vancouver had to eat half of his cap – $468,000.

Vancouver can’t afford a similar cap hit this year.

And Mike Gillis isn’t afraid of burying salaries in the minors. He was paying Jason Krog $700,000, and Michelle Ouellet $1,300,000 to play in Manitoba last year.

The third thing I am concerned with is Manitoba’s potential lack of scoring. Jason Krog signed with Atlanta, Jason Jaffray with Calgary, and Mark Cullen with Chicago. Sergei Shirokov would be a great replacement, as would Mark Parrish, or Dave Scatchard should they sign two way contracts.

Manitoba looks to be really strong on the D – with the roster players listed above – and the Dmen I have coloured green below.

It’s their depth at forward that I am concerned about.

‘NUCKS ROSTER – SEPTEMBER 18, 2009

Not listed on the ‘NUCKS ROSTER or MOOSE ROSTER, but certainly going to Manitoba will be: Tanner Glass LW and Guillaume Desbiens RW.

I’ve kept Cody Hodgson’s name on the Canucks roster – just in case he plays so well that he takes one of Vancouver’s roster spots – and another forward can be made available for the Moose.